Institute for Computational and Data Sciences AI Week Highlights Penn State’s AI Research
Penn State’s AI Week, organized by the Penn State AI Hub, brought together faculty, students, and staff to present ongoing research and activities related to artificial intelligence (AI) across multiple campuses. The event took place from April 14 to April 17, 2025, with a focus on the application of AI systems and tools in K-12 and higher education.
The event featured panels, immersive workshops, research showcases, and a student poster session, all designed to foster collaboration and share advancements in AI research.
Building Community and Promoting AI Innovation
Mehrdad Mahdavi, director of the Penn State AI Hub and associate professor, emphasized that AI Week aimed to strengthen the AI community at Penn State. The event highlighted AI’s role in research acceleration, career readiness, creative assistance, and classroom integration. It also encouraged dialogue and collaboration among researchers across the university.
Student Research Showcased Through Poster Presentations
More than 60 student research projects were presented, spanning diverse fields such as predictive safety for all-terrain vehicles, mushroom picking algorithms, empathetic AI models in mental health, and ethical perspectives on AI use.
Six poster presenters received awards from a judging panel:
- First place ($300): Samarth Khanna, College of Information Sciences and Technology – "Distributive Fairness in Large Language Models: Evaluating Alignment with Human Values"
- Second place ($250): Kanguri Han, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering – "Vision Apple Quality Assessment System for Selective Robotic Harvesting in Complex Orchard Environment"
- Third place ($150): Suhas Bettapalli Nagaraj, College of Information Sciences and Technology – "Generative AI for Efficient and Empathetic Conversational Models in Mental Health"
- Honorable mentions ($100 each): Matthew Poska (informatics), Sohrab Sheikh Sofla (electrical engineering), Waquar Kaleem (industrial and manufacturing engineering)
Khanna noted that presenting his work on fair decision-making in economic contexts opened opportunities for collaboration with peers addressing fairness in AI.
Bettapalli Nagaraj collaborates with clinicians to develop empathetic AI tools supporting mental health therapy. His research includes trauma-specific therapy simulations and audio-based session evaluation systems that operate without transcripts. He stressed the importance of raising awareness about AI’s positive social applications.
Faculty Panels Address AI Applications Across Disciplines
Panels featured faculty from the Center for Artificial Foundations and Scientific Applications (CENSAI) and the Center for Artificial Intelligence Foundations and Engineered Systems (CAFE). Discussions covered AI’s role in weather prediction, biology, transportation, and infrastructure management.
Vijay Narayanan, associate dean for innovation and CAFE director, highlighted the diversity and vibrancy of AI research at Penn State, noting the event as a convergence of theoretical advances and practical technology applications.
K-12 Education and AI Integration
The final day centered on AI in K-12 education, hosted by the Penn State Center for Science and the Schools (CSATS). Workshops addressed AI policy, career pathways, classroom integration, prompt engineering, conservation support, and avoiding common AI pitfalls.
Jeff Remington, CSATS outreach liaison, remarked on the event’s success in translating AI research into broader educational impact.
Exploring AI in the Arts and Human-Robot Interaction
Betsy Campbell, associate teaching professor and Fulbright Specialist in AI and society, coordinated activities demonstrating AI’s relevance in the arts. Highlights included a human-robot dance performance and a curated visual art gallery exploring AI’s societal impact.
The “Post-human Performance: An AI-enabled Dance Recital” challenged students to choreograph dances involving robots as active partners rather than props. This approach to human-robot interaction is distinctive to Penn State.
Participants expressed that showcasing AI creatively helped reduce stigma and revealed its human element. Kait Martin, an enterprise technology integration major, noted the potential for AI applications across various domains.
Additional Highlights and Resources
The Nittany AI Alliance’s Nittany AI Challenge awarded five student teams for projects using AI tools to address social good.
For recordings of virtual sessions and further details on AI Week, visit the Complete AI Training website.
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